New Ulm weekly review., 1887-09-14
"A WOM.A N IN CAMP.

! Ihave knocked about a good deal
i IN my time, from d oubling Cape Horn
las q sailor to digging as minor, and
6ghting the Indians as. a scout, and
|.Yet the closest escape lever had from
death was with my eyes vide open
and through my own stupidity. Ear
! " in the seventies was down in the
Indian Territory buying horses for
shipment East. j had a partner,
and we travelled with our own team
in covered wagon. That territory
isn't any too peaceful now. but in 70
you not only wanted q trusty rifle
with you, but you wanted the knack
| Of dropping your man first. Travelling
| from ranch to ranch as we did, with
everybody knowing that we had mon
ey to buy horses with, our situation
| was one requiring constant vigilance.
There was never a night that both Of
us slept at once, and never a day that
we were not on the watch for some
| plan no get the better Of us. In one
trip Of three months we had five diff.
ferent watch dogs poisoned, and finally
gave up trying to keep one. You
might imagine that it would have been
| worth while for some ofthe predatory
| bands roaming the country to make
an attack on us, but the fellows rea-
soned differently. A couple Of men,
armed with Winchesters and revolvers,
| and determined to defend their own
! at any cost, are antagonists not to
| be despised. Your western outlaw,
with very few exceptions, is just as
careful about getting a bullet into his
! body as anyone else.
One day in July, while we were on
the north folk OF the Canadian river,
and about 20 miles below Shawnee
town, one of the horses in our team
was bitten by a rattlesnake. / was
driving, and l saw the snake as it
lifted itself from the grass and bit the
horse twice on the leg. 1t was a hot
day, the horses we'll heated up,
and the poison took effect very soon.
We had no remedy for it, but were
compelled to stand by and see the
animal suffer and die. It wasn't
quite an hour after he was struck be.
fore he was dead. In buying horses
we stipulated for delivery at certain
points, and thus had no spare ones
with us. To make our team whole
one of us must take the other horse
and ride Oft and make a purchase. l
had been over the route before, and I
knew that the nearest ranch was l2
miles up the river. It was now 4
O'Clock IN the afternoon, and we are
within half mile of the stream
and in a Wild and lonely district Of
country. We had with us in a tin
! box in the wagon over 1000 in gold;
and the misfortune to our horse nat
urally increased our anxieties. My
partner insisted that I should be the
one to remain with the wagon, and he
had no sooner moved away than I be-
gan to make things secure. The very
first thing was to take the tin
box from the wagon and bury
it in the ground under the vehi-
Gle, and after that | staked out the
horse, saw that every ferarm was in
rood order, and beat around the camp
TO drive away any reptiles lurking
| about.
There was no use in expecting Pat.
| ton, my partner, back before o'clock
Or latter. He would doubtless find q
suitable horse at the first ranch, but the
vanchman might be away, or there were
a dozen other reasons to call for de-
! lay. We carried provisions with us,
! and at about6 O'Clock built fire
and prepared my supper, and was
about to begin eating when I caught
sight ola horse and rider approaching
camp from the northwest. The
! ground was open for three or four
miles, and as had q glass with me I
made out, while the horse was yet a
mile and a half away, that he bore a
woman on his back. Had she been a
sQuaw the sight would not have occas-
| ioned surprise, but the first look prov
en- that she was white and that her
horse was jaded and coming slowly.
| AS l held a glass onher saw her turn
and look back, as one pursued, and
long before she reached me had be-
come grately interested in her case.
She rode straight for the wagon,
and when she finally came up
her horse was very much
blown, and the woman's face
seemed to betray both hope and fea1
by turns. She was an ayerage-look,
ing female, about forty years old, and
as she drew rein beside me we surveyed
each other for half a minute before
either spoke. During that interval ]
caught an expression on her FACE
which 1 did not at all like. It was a
sly, sinister look, but it passed swift
| " away, and was replaced by one o.
anxiety. was the first to speak, say
ing:
''Well, are you in trouble?"
/ .In great trouble, SIR" she replied
Il have been living with my brother
on small ranch about Is miles dis
/ tant. Two hours ago dosen drunk
en- Kickapoo Indians visited the place
wounded my brother. and set fire te
| the house, and would have ASSAULTED
4 me had not fled on this horse. They
| pursued me for several miles, and L
"a! 4